UW-Stout News

UW-Stout News Story

Three engineering programs achieve accreditation

September 3, 2013

Three University of Wisconsin-Stout engineering programs have been accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, previously known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

The ABET Commission voted to accredit for the first time the Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering and the Bachelor of Science degree in plastics engineering. Accreditation for the Bachelor of Science in manufacturing engineering was renewed. The programs are scheduled for their next general review in 2017.

"We are building a group of prestigious engineering programs at UW-Stout, and these accreditations are evidence of that," said Chancellor Charles W. Sorensen. "We have quality faculty and staff in all three of these programs who are producing engineers who are ready for the challenges of the workplace."

"This is the academic stamp of approval for these programs," said Charles Bomar, interim dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. "Our students now know that these engineering programs meet the highest standards for quality and innovation."

Bomar said Richard Rothaupt, STEM associate dean, helped guide the accreditation process for all three majors.

"Our faculty, staff and administration spent many years designing these programs to meet specific needs of regional companies," Rothaupt said. "The programs have garnered generous support from industry and individuals in the form of scholarships, equipment donations and faculty professorships, as well as Cooperative Education opportunities and internships. All three engineering programs have a 100 percent placement rate for their graduates."

The computer engineering program admitted its first students in fall 2009. It has 170 students this fall. A particular focus of the program is on the design of hardware and software for engineering systems that use embedded digital processors such as microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors and personal computers.

The plastics engineering program is one of just two in the United States. It began in 2008 and has 80 students this fall. The program emphasizes lab activities and student engineering design projects, with a particular focus on plastics material characterization and product production.

The manufacturing engineering program began in 1994 and is one of fewer than 25 such programs across the country. It has 270 students. Manufacturing engineers are involved with the production process, from product design and manufacturing automation through postsale service.